Archive for August 2014

1 August 2014

FBU taking more strike action

The next round of firefighters' strikes will take place for eight days from Saturday 9 August until Saturday 16 August, between 12 noon and 14:00 and 22:59 and 23:59

1 August 2014

Tax workers walkout against cuts

PCS members in HMRC have been striking as part of regional rolling action on one of the three days from 30 July to 1 August

2 August 2014

CWU must oppose 'performance management'

In BT the CWU is sending out yet another survey on whether union members feel that the application of performance management has improved

6 August 2014

Land Registry sell-off halted - now jobs fight needed

Government U-turn over Land Registry privatisation follows massive campaign led by the PCS civil service union

6 August 2014

Sacked for union activity

Sodexo catering staff at London Underground strike to demand the reinstatement of RMT union rep Petrit Mihaj

6 August 2014

Labour policy forum: continuing Tory austerity

The Labour Party leaders have repeatedly promised to continue this government's policy of cuts. If pro-capitalist Labour wins the next election they guarantee we will face more public sector job losses

6 August 2014

Argentina: Another debt default

End extortion of vulture markets: Thirteen years after the biggest sovereign debt default in history, Argentina has defaulted yet again, on the same debt, writes Danny Byrne.

6 August 2014

Ruffling feathers in Cornwall

Socialists strike a chord in Truro: Socialist Party members ruffled feathers and connected with Cornish people in a foray into England's furthest-flung corner, writes Rob Rooney.

6 August 2014

Regulating the banks? Don't make me laugh!

Deep in the heart of London, the world's largest centre for international finance, bankers are quivering in fear, writes Tessa Warrington.

6 August 2014

Them & Us

Super-dooper: One statistic indicating economic recovery which Chancellor George Osborne isn't crowing about is the booming sales of super-yachts

6 August 2014

Workplace news in brief

FBU names eight dates: The firefighters' union, the FBU, has announced an eight-day period of industrial action in England and Wales in defence of pensions

6 August 2014

Anniversary of the 1934 Minneapolis strikes

Revolutionary US Teamsters: This year marks the 80th anniversary of one of the greatest labour revolts in US history, the strikes of the Minneapolis Teamsters, writes Alan Jones and Ty Moore, Socialist Alternative, USA.

6 August 2014

Scotland: Countdown to independence referendum

For an independent socialist Scotland: Intense discussion and debate are developing over the independence referendum in Scotland on 18 September. The vote will not be the end of this process, writes Matt Dobson.

6 August 2014

Energy giants' profits continue to defy the laws of gravity

The next Chief Executive of Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, will be the aptly named Mr Conn, formerly of oil giant BP, writes Matt Gordon.

6 August 2014

End the siege of Gaza

Mass struggle to end Israeli state terror: A hail of death has roared down on Gaza for weeks. Working class people in Britain and worldwide are shocked and angered at images of a Palestinian father carrying his dead children's body parts in a plastic bag

6 August 2014

Capitalist crisis continues

Working class must and will play decisive role: Extracts from a keynote speech at the 2014 CWI summer school by Peter Taaffe, general secretary of the Socialist Party, on world relations and the perspectives for capitalism and the world workers' struggle

6 August 2014

Doncaster: uniting against anti-union bosses

Alistair Tice reports on two Doncaster struggles against anti-union firms

6 August 2014

Unite to fight pay robbery

- Lobby the TUC on 7 September
- Coordinate strikes on 14 October
- Join the TUC London demo on 18 October:
Workers in Britain have been hit by the biggest fall in pay since 1880. Increasingly, work simply does not pay! But as incomes drop, the anger is rising

7 August 2014

Gaza local protest reports

Socialist Party members have reported on local protests against the siege of Gaza in Coventry, Lincoln and Wakefield, some of the demonstrations that Socialist Party members have taken part in across England and Wales, writes Click the links below to see the reports and photos:.

11 August 2014

East Coast Mainline cleaners strike for decent pay

Low paid workers employed by ISS struck on Friday 8 August for 24 hours, with a 48-hour strike to follow

12 August 2014

Care UK workers to strike for three weeks

Striking Care UK workers outside the company's Mansion House in Doncaster, 09.08.14, photo Alistair Tice

"We're Yorkshire folk, we're like a dog with a bone. We won't give up, we'll never surrender."

15 August 2014

Iraq: Only united action can stop sectarian war

Iraqis and Kurds must not trust imperialist 'helpers': Millions of working people around the world have been shocked at the rapid advance of the extreme religious fundamentalists of ISIS

15 August 2014

Socialism and national rights

The bloody conflict in Ukraine, alongside the slaughter of the Palestinian people in Gaza, has brought the issue of the 'national question' once more forcefully onto the political agenda. How can we open a road to begin to solve seemingly age-old intractable issues? Peter Taaffe writes.

15 August 2014

Royal Mail workers stage unofficial walkout

CWU members at Royal Mail's Orton Southgate Delivery Office in Peterborough walk out

18 August 2014

Protesters condemn mayor Anderson's continuing butchery

A small but determined contingent attended the Labour mayor's cabinet to oppose the latest butchery of services

18 August 2014

Fight for real jobs

Join the Fast Food Rights day of action on 28 August: 868,000 16 to 24 year olds are unemployed

19 August 2014

The People's March for the NHS

The People's March for the NHS is the brain child of a group of 'mums' from Darlington

19 August 2014

Final meeting of Swansea Visteon pensioners

19 August 2014

BT CWU members vote for strike action in latest consultation

In a consultation ballot, 57% voted for a ballot for industrial action now.

20 August 2014

Capitalism means war: Join the Socialists!

Nato, the war-machine of Western capitalism, will descend on Newport in September

20 August 2014

TUSC byelection reports

Fleetwood: For the second time in eleven months, TUSC has polled a strong third position for Rossall ward of Fleetwood town council in Lancashire, winning 19% of the vote

20 August 2014

Campaigning for genuine equality at Leeds Pride

Thousands gathered in Leeds on Sunday 3 August for the city's annual LGBT Pride march. As with previous years there was a strong presence from trade unions and other activists

20 August 2014

Youth services: jobs and centres slashed

The public sector union Unison has revealed that three quarters of local authorities have cut youth services

20 August 2014

Campaign steps up on New Era estate

Hackney Socialist Party members have been campaigning on the New Era estate in Hoxton. Residents on the estate (owned by the richest Tory MP) have had their rents increased by over £100 a month in the last year

20 August 2014

Re-house Charlie Wort!

Southampton Labour-run council has evicted Charlie Wort from his home in St. Marys after the recent death of his mother. They claim he is no longer entitled to be housed by the council

20 August 2014

Protest camp brings NHS activists together

Save Stafford Hospital activists, determined to stop it from being dismantled, have run a protest camp in the hospital grounds for several weeks

20 August 2014

Why I joined the Socialists

More than shouting at the news: As a teenager, I was involved with various activist groups, then life took over. Two decades later, with a Tory government in power again, that feeling of injustice is back with a vengeance

20 August 2014

Them & Us

Mind the gap: The fall in average earnings in the last economic quarter didn't affect Britain's fat cat executives

20 August 2014

North West Fire Service call centre cuts catastrophe

The disastrous consequences of just one element of cuts and privatisation in the fire service recently hit the news, when a fire crew from Carlisle in Cumbria were instructed to attend an incident near Bolton in Lancashire - a 200 mile round trip

20 August 2014

BT pay cuts: we need less surveys, more action!

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) telecoms section is once again shying away from a fight with BT and recommending cuts in pay and conditions for new staff

20 August 2014

Support London Taxi drivers' fight against deregulation

Dave Wallis, a London taxi driver, RMT member and Bob Crow's cousin, says why drivers are campaigning against the Uber app

20 August 2014

Surrey council workers look to strike on pay

In April, Surrey county council imposed a two year pay deal broadly in line with the government's austerity measures on pay constraint

20 August 2014

Welsh councils have a choice

Demonstration against closure of day centre in Llandeilo, Wales: Users of Noddfa Teilo Day Club in Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, protest, photo Socialist Party Wales

"You can only spend them once." This was Welsh Local Government Association chief executive Steve Thomas' explanation of why Welsh councils plan to cut £7-800 million after it was revealed that they hold reserves of over £700 million

20 August 2014

USA: Ferguson erupts over police killing

The police killing of unarmed black youth, Michael Brown, in the Ferguson suburb of Missouri on 9 August, has led to a storm of protest across the USA

20 August 2014

Jess Spear election success

Hot on the heels of socialist Kshama Sawant's earth shattering election victory in Seattle and the game changing success of the '$15 Now' end low pay campaign, comes Jess Spear

20 August 2014

Scandal of underfunded mental health services

The shocking death of actor Robin Williams starkly highlights the fact that depression is a dangerous and life threatening clinical condition

20 August 2014

Protests, strikes and equality: Women in World War One

In this anniversary year there is likely to be scant attention given to the militant struggles of working class women during the four years of brutal conflict, where class divisions remained a feature of everyday life

20 August 2014

Socialist policies needed to answer Project Fear

Thursday 18 September will see an unprecedented mobilisation to the polls for the referendum on Scottish independence

20 August 2014

Government's economic mirage as election approaches

Ahead of next year's general election, Tory Chancellor George Osborne and Lib Dem Treasury minister Danny Alexander have been regaling the mainstream media with tales of government success in increasing employment, in an expanding economy

20 August 2014

We can't live on poverty pay!

Tory MP claims he can't live on £300k: Tory MP Mark Simmonds recently announced he was leaving parliament. He claims that his MP's wage and expenses don't give him the life he aspires to

20 August 2014

Chester solidarity with Doncaster Care UK workers

When West Cheshire Trades Council members heard that managers from Care UK in Chester were travelling to Doncaster to strike break during the Doncaster Care UK dispute, they decided to act

21 August 2014

Milford Haven campaign against mosquito sound device

Twenty five local supporters recently joined five campaign negotiators to protest outside Milford Haven library against the use of a high frequency 'mosquito' sound device

22 August 2014

Aslef Central Line tube drivers strike

Aslef union members, drivers on London Underground's Central and Waterloo & City lines, took strike action on Friday 22 August in protest at what the union's Finn Brennan called management's "bullying culture"

29 August 2014

Fast Food Rights: ‘Get the lady in the pink T-shirt out of here!’

Activists from the BFAWU union and YFJ took part in a day of action